01/16/2014

I'm participating in this currently, and decided this time to maybe try to be a little helpful to whomever gets my name and post a bunch of random things about me. Otherwise this blog is mostly about Simon, which is way cuter, but less helpful for this purpose. So! It's all about me today. Feel free to come back in a week when I'll have Simon's 18 month post up. (!!)

1. Nail polish makes me feel claustrophobic.

2. I like lotion and put it on 1,000 times a day in the winter

3. I spend much of my free time reading on my Kindle or playing old Game Cube games on my Wii.

4. My iPhone is rarely out of arm's reach.

5. My favorite color is purple, or anything in the green-blue-purple end of the rainbow.

6. I fidget a lot and don't sit still well. I fold origami flowers out of paper napkin rings at restaurants to keep my hands busy.

7. 99% of all jewelry I wear is silver/white gold, not yellow gold.

8. I don't drink coffee, but I love hot chocolate.

9. My new winter coat is bright red.

10. I love salty snacks, except not nuts.

11. I like frogs. Not real ones, decorations or prints on fabric and best of all toddler clothes. He prefers Sesame Street.

12. I have Food Network on in the background when I'm cooking/cleaning/computing/etc. All the cooking shows for me.

13. I like to color or do puzzle books while I watch TV.

14. I believe it is important to always have an emergency brownie mix in the house. (edges forever!)

15. I work crazy hours at work Feb 1 - April 15 and pretty much live at work/in front of my computer. It is not a happy time of year.

16. I like pretty kitchen things - new rags/towels/clever spatulas/etc. make me happy.

17. Lately I like fruit-flavored candy more than chocolate. I think Christmas over-chocolated me. Skittles, Starburst, etc. Fake cherry flavor is terrible, but the others are great.

18. Almonds should be banished from the planet.

19. I have three cats. Sometimes I also think THEY should be banished from the planet.

20. I am still mad that they got David and Maddy together on Moonlighting and ruined their relationship.

21. I have a tendency to watch TV WAY after everyone else has seen it. See: currently watching (and loving) Doctor Who. I think we're in 2007-ish? Practically current. Sorta.

22. I like board games and card games, but T doesn't much like to play them and Simon is too little. Sadface.

23. My favorite number is 23.

24. I buy a new set of lunch boxes/lunch containment systems every year or so and can never find one that I like well enough to keep.

25. I just bought a retro-fit game system that is supposed to be able to play original NES games and I so hope it works. If it does I'll be hitting eBay HARD. Tiny Toon Adventures, here I come!

26. I have narcolepcy, which sometimes also comes with middle of the night insomnia which is just so unfair.

27. I also like numbers with sevens in them (I get this from my mom). My alarm is often set to a time with a seven (this morning: 5:07). I always set the microwave to a time with a seven in it. (47 seconds to melt butter for popcorn. 27 seconds to heat up vegetables for Simon.)

None. We traveled back and forth between Minnesota and Chicago every three weeks or so for the bulk of the year, visiting my mom as much as possible before she passed away in October.

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you didn't have in 2013?

Less stress. More "me" time to relax. Less travel.

7. What dates from 2013 will be etched upon your memory, and why?

They are mostly sad, I'm afraid. I made a lot of happy memories this year, too, but I didn't not the actual dates of many of them. January 31st - the day I got the call Mom was in ICU, the beginning of the hospital visit that would end in a terminal diagnosis. May 12th - my first mother's day as a mom and my last with my mom. October 12th - the day Mom passed away. October 17th - her memorial service.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

Surviving. With a year like 2013 that's enough.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Nothing comes to mind. All the things that were hard/sad about this year were well out of my control. I don't think failing to cure cancer with the power of my thoughts is really a failure.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I had the stomach flu twice and landed in the ER with kidney stones once. The kidney stones refused to go away and got me a CAT scan a week later, too. All is well again now.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I got it as a gift, so I didn't buy it, but I love love love my Kindle. I've finally been able to start reading more again now that I don't have to carry paper books around with me when I'm already carring a million other things.

I also didn't buy the new car (2012 Hyundai SantaFe), but that has been really nice as well. (We inherited it from Mom.)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Simon's. I celebrate him every day for a million reasons. I need to write another update post about him.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

87% of the people featured in stories on the news.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Airfare and daycare.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

So many Simon things. His crawling and standing and walking and talking. His birthday. Everything. This morning I was excited because he woke up before I left the house and I got to snuggle him.

16. What song will always remind you of 2013?

Hmm. I'm not sure, I can't think of anything in particular. I haven't listened to much new music.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Both happier and sadder, depending on what I'm thinking about at the time. Neither thinner nor fatter, slightly poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

While I spent as much time with my Mom this year as was at all possible I think I'll always wish for more. There is no "enough".

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Worrying about things I couldn't change.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Driving all over creation. We started an hour and a half south of Chicago at my inlaw's on Saturday, left there Sunday morning to stop home and change out what all was packed in the car. Then we drove to Tomah, Wisconsin for Sunday night. Monday we drove the rest of the way to Minnesota to my Dad's house. Tuesday (Christmas Eve) we drove back to Wisconsin to my Aunt's house. Wednesday (Christmas Day) was back to Minnesota. Sunday we did the whole drive back to Chicago. SO MANY MILES.

21. Did you fall in love in 2013?

Not with anyone new. Still in love with T and Simon, because how could I not be?

22. What was your favorite TV program?

We watched the forth season of The Voice this spring with my Mom and I really liked that. I also watched a ton of Chopped both with her and on my own. Despite not particularly liking eating or cooking super elaborate things I do love my Food Network.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

I have too short of an attention span to sustain hate.

24. What was the best book you read?

Timebound by Rysa Walker and Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Same as last year: I don't listen to a lot of music, I mostly leave musical discovery up to T.

26. What did you want and get?

A happy, healthy Simon. A Kindle. A good therapist.

27. What did you want and not get?

A cure for cancer.

28. What was your favorite film of 2013?

I...don't think I watched a single movie in 2013.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 33 and I spent the day unpacking and cleaning. We had driven back from a Minnesota trip the day before and I was frantically getting everything put back together and getting things as done as possible before we were set to drive back again a week later. My birthday barely registered this year.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A cure for cancer. A big lottery win so I could have taken the whole year off.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2013?

Uh...I wore clothes. They match, more or less.

32. What kept you sane?

Same as 2012: The friends who live in my computer/email/on Twitter. What did people do before the internet?

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Same as 2012: Not sure. I can't think of any TV-loves-of-my-life this year.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The news is depressing and scary, more so since Simon was born. I try to ignore politics when possible.

35. Who did you miss?

In the last two months of the year: my Mom.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

A lot of nurses and doctors come to mind. I wish I hadn't NEEDED to meet them, but I'm so thankful they were there and wonderful and took such good care of my mom.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.

You can't control everything, no matter how much you try.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

And long after you're gone, gone, gone.I love you long after you're gone, gone, gone.

07/29/2013

Well! Guess who got a little behind on the monthly posts (again)? You guessed right! Now that you're a year old it will be even harder for me to update here regularly because I am busy chasing you all over the apartment.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before we talk about you at One! Year! Old! we have to talk about your eleventh month.

Like every month before it this was another month of Firsts. You had your first trip to Grandma Itzmee and Grandpa French Fry's Cabarage where you got to take your first boat ride. You were skeptical at first but eventually warmed up to the activity, even trying to clap your hands in happiness - only your hands couldn't reach each other in the hilarious (but safe!) infant life vest we had you in.

"They are down." /Louie

You also got to have your first s'more. And actually that picture shows your first jalapeno cheese venison jerky as well. There's no accounting for taste.

You stayed awake on the airplane to Minnesota for the first time and you really enjoyed the view.

You started riding in the cart like a Big Boy all the time, and WOW were you excited about it.

You went to your first F.A.R.T. camping trip and charmed all of your many extended family members. You also became very good buddies with cousin Becca's dog who is pretty much the same size as you. You ate part of a hot dog and some watermelon and played in the dirt and probably ate a lot of the dirt, too. Win some, lose some.

You expanded your climbing skills by wedging yourself into Grampa French Fry's office shelves. Every time I pulled you out you climbed right back up and in.

Speaking of Grampa French Fry you also got to visit his office for the first time. You were very helpful writing a whole new chapter for his book.

Gramma Itzmee set up a kiddie pool for you in their yard and you had a blast playing in what was ultimately a really big bath tub where Gramma and Mama got into the water with you. Plus there was no hair washing!

Back in Chicago Mommy and I also took you to your first concert - you saw the Indigo Girls at Ravinia. This was undoubtably Mommy's favorite part of the whole month. You really seemed to enjoy the music and wanted to clap along and wiggle-dance on the blanket which pleased her to no end.

Other firsts - you learned to play SO BIG just after turning ten months. For the whole weekend anytime you would notice that people weren't looking at you you would throw your arms up over your head knowing it would get cheers and clapping. You win.

You also started standing independently, not holding on to anything for support, at about ten months and one week, which was just so cool to see. A baby! Standing up! All thinking he's a person! Craziness.

And that brings us to your twelfth month, heading up to a whole year old!

In your twelfth month you got to take your first trip to the zoo up in Minnesota. We took your picture sitting on some giraffes that have been there since the dawn of time. There are likely pictures of me sitting on the same giraffe when I was a kid.

You have gotten even better at climbing and exploring, even taking some time to explore your first mall playground. Trouble was there were some bigger kids you couldn't quite keep up with but you SO wanted to. I could see how frustrated you were that you couldn't climb as fast or run like they could. As soon as you can you are going to be impossible to catch, I'm sure of it.

You also attended not one but two weddings this month. The first was the wedding of your Aunt Heather and your Uncle John. They are the greatest and I can't wait to see you get to know them as you grow up. Gramma Itzmee pointed out at the wedding that you were almost exactly the same age that Aunt Heather was when I first met her and started babysitting her. Sunrise, sunset, etc.

The other wedding you went to was for your cousin Amanda and Adam on Mommy's side of the family. Mommy was busy officiating things so you sat with me in the back of the room at the rehersal and did yoga, a new hobby of yours. (I suspect you're trying to figure out how to stand up without a wall/etc to hold on to, but man the yoga is cute.)

Other hobbies include emptying the recycling bin one piece of paper at a time...

Drinking other people's beverage from cups (but not your own beverage from your own cup, of course)...

Playing peek-a-boo around the corner (and through the glass door) with Grandma.

And reading all of the books. ALL of the books. Books are your favorite thing, closely followed by your stuffed monkeys and your bug that poops balls. (We have all the classy toys in this house.) But back to the books - it was in your twelfth month that you started choosing books you wanted read, handing them to me or Mommy, and plopping yourself into our laps for a story. It is about the cutest thing ever in the history of ever. Fact. (Lots of things you do are the cutest things ever in the history of ever, but this is especially cute.)

And now you are one. You were lucky enough to have three celebrations - one in Minnesota, one in Chicago with just the three of us at George's for ice cream on your actual birthday, and one in Kankakee.

You are a much loved baby who is now flush with new books and toys. (This is the bug that poops balls. You love this thing SO MUCH right now it is hilarious.)

And here you are on your actual birthday. My big boy.

You got your first tooth three days before your first birthday. You take 3-4 steps at a time (that started at 11.5 months), you wave your hands around when you babble in excitement, you climb on anything and everything, you smile with your whole face, you laugh and laugh and laugh at us, you eat everything we put in front of you other than a few shapes of pasta. You read books, you chase the cats, you un-fold laundry, you climb stairs, and you dance to music or when Grampa French Fry sings his song to you. I can't believe a year went SO FAST. Seriously. How big are you? SO BIG. I can't wait to see where the next year takes us, and how much you keep growing and learning.

05/22/2013

When I was pregnant with Simon my hair grew a whole lot faster than normal. Like, a LOT faster. I suppose that is to be expected along with all the other strange pregnancy side effects, but I didn't realize how very long my hair had gotten until around Christmas last year. For years my hair length has been within a few inches of my shoulders, always about the same. But this was down past my bra strap when I dried it straight, about at my bra strap when I left it curly. LONG.

The week of Christmas I randomly declared that I was going to cut it all off after tax season and donate it. Why not? It was way longer than I wanted it to be, and it seemed like a ncie gesture to the universe. A month later my mom was diagnosed with incurable cancer. So! Hair donation it is. Got it, universe.

I still waited until spring mainly because the combination of infant + mom with cancer + busy season at work left me with no time or energy to deal with it. This past weekend I finally dealt with it.

The pigtails cut off are just a touch over a foot long when I pull them straight-ish.

After the haircut we were going right downtown to meet with T's mom for the day, so I had them style my hair straight just because it seemed easier/more predictable, but I do wear it curly on regular days. Aweseomly this is what I get when I shower at night right before bed, use no product other than leave-in conditioner, fall asleep on wet hair, and get up in the morning and just go with it.

I'm really happy with it, and I'm glad I have the ability to donate my hair. I can't cure cancer, I can't make it go away, but I can do something to help someone else, and that's a good thing.

05/21/2013

Hey look, so your ten month post is going up less than a week after your nine month post. At least I'm on time this month!

Wait, TEN months old? Who authorized all this growing? Not me, that's for sure.

Okay, maybe it's a little fun. (A lot fun.)

You've reached the age where you can play some basic baby-games with us with regularity. We're just starting to understand SO BIG! When prompted you will sometimes do fives (high five) and you LOVE to clap for things. For the benefit of everyone reading this I won't post a picture of you clapping while nursing (which you do every single time we nurse now, thanks kid), but I will post one of you clapping for blackberries. You love all food so far, except eggs. Not a fan of eggs.

This month your crawling really took off. One day you were taking one or two crawling "steps", tops, and the next day you were full-on crawling all over (at nine months and one week).

You also learned to climb stairs this month, thanks to Gramma Itzmee. We have to watch you closely though, as you have the attention span of a gnat and will try to sit and take a break part way up when there is no floor under your butt to catch you. We're holding off on the Mensa application for a while yet, then.

Hotel carpet - totally germ-free, I'm sure!

We took two trips this month. The first was to Minnesota to Gramma Itzmee and Grampa French Fry's house. You (thankfully) still did well on the plane, so we rewarded you with some time at White Bear Beach, crawling around the playground and walking down to the water's edge to see ice off.

We also took a (very long, very dull) drive to Iowa for a family wedding (for one of Mama's cousins on Gramma Itzmee's side). Despite the long drive and the fact that they had gotten half a foot of snow on May 3rd, we had a great time. In addition to learning stairs with Gramma Itzmee you also got to swim in the hotel pool and dress up in the fancy suit that Barb and Heather bought for you last fall. You were stylin'.

And you got to go swimming in the pool with Gramma Itzmee and Grampa French Fry (who had his camera with him even in the pool, because OF COURSE).

This past weekend, the last of being nine months old, Gram came to visit for the day and we took you to Millenium Park where you got your first dose of playing in the Crown Fountain. It was too cold to let you stay in the water long, but I forsee many visits this summer. You love your splashing.

You've also nearly overcome every baby's big fear: GRASS. You still aren't a super fan of crawling on it, but you will put up with it without complaint, which I'm told puts you way ahead of everyone else in your daycare class.

Books are still a big hit, and you are starting to figure out how to turn the pages yourself.

But you don't always have as much time for reading now that you're standing all the live-long day. Not only standing but full-on cruising around furniture! At about nine months three weeks you started taking steps along the edges of the couch or your crib, and now at ten months proper you can do full laps around furniture and move from the table to the couch for support. You still fall on your butt the second you let go, but we're heading quickly to Serious Mobile Baby stage, I can tell.

But I don't really have to worry about you getting far, at least not yet. Your favorite place to be is still touching Mama all of the time. According to you I am the very best jungle-gym in the world. I'll take it.

Other milestones/things of note. You have many Opinions-with-a-capital-O that you express via screaching (happy) and kicking and screaming (mad). The mad parts are mostly during diaper changes, unless I distract you with a toy. Your current favorite toy to hold for a scream-free diaper change is a gangly monkey that Grampa French Fry and Gramma Itzmee brought you from Washington D.C. last fall. We named him Mr. Smith. (Because he came from Washington, get it? GET IT? Oh, never mind.)

In other communication news, you definately understand at least some of what we're saying to you, too, particularly "NO. SIT. BUTT DOWN." which you hear roughly 3,567 times per bath. Please note that understanding what we say and listening to/doing what we say are different things. Ahem.

You are still all kinds of smiley and happy and you love nothing more than new strangers to talk to and giggle with. In a Culvers on the way home from Iowa you were far more interested in sitting backwards in your high chair to better woo passing strangers with your smile than you were in eating. I fear I've given birth to a tiny politician. Or a tiny version of Gramma Itzmee. Soon you'll be telling me how we're "related" to all these strangers.

In short, you are a delight. Your little voice telling me "ba ba ba BA BA BA pttttttttthhhh" is one of my favorite things. I love that the closest you come to blowing kisses is to give your palm a raspberry and then wave at me. You clap when I come to pick you up from school and you attack me with kisses when I pick you up. You're just the greatest. I'm so lucky to have you.

05/14/2013

I'm sorry this is late again! I wrote it when you were just barely nine months, then I got all distracted and didn't have time to match it up to pictures. Hey, at least I got it up...five whole days before your ten month post will go up. Heh.

I still want to post a separate nine month post though, since otherwise the posts get too picture heavy. How could I not want to put 7,000 pictures of you in each monthly post? You are just so darn CUTE.

Can you hear Grampa Fisher singing that to you? Because he will never, ever stop so long as it continues to get such a big grin out of you. Most everything makes you happy, but him singing that goofy song is certainly high on the list of Mr. Nine Month Old Simon.

Also good at getting smiles from Simon: friends! strangers! Anyone willing to make eye-contact! You are the friendliest baby I've ever known. You get that part of your personality 100% from Gramma Itzmee.

Also high on the list: riding a carosel! We were up in Minnesota for your first Easter (and the entire following week) and one day we took you to Maplewood Mall to shop for clothes and ride the carosel. Grampa Fisher also took you on the escalator, which he claims you loved. I was not there for that part (stroller on the escalator!), but MAN you loved that carosel. You just squeeled and squeeled.

You were also a big fan of swinging. On two different days we took a walk to Appletree Park near Gramma and Grampa's house and went on the swings. You also went down two slides (with me) and sat on a boucy car thing, but the swings were your favorite, by far.

Speaking of Easter, you were surprisingly tolerant of us (read: me) putting bunny ears on you. We didn't even have to bribe you with candy! (You did get candy in your Easter basket, but Mommy and I took it and ate it. Sorry we're not sorry.)

In addition to our trip to Minnesota we also took a drive down to visit Gram for her birthday. She was more interested in you than opening her present, but who wouldn't be?

Hilariously both Gramma in Minnesota and Gram in Illinois decided this was the month to pull out old toddler-size rocking chairs from when Mommy and I were little. You happily sat in both, "oooooo"-ing your awe at us. (Great Uncle Mike/Mama's chair on the left, Mommy's chair on the right). For now both chairs are going to keep living at Gramma and Gram's houses, but eventually when you're a bit bigger we'll bring them home for you to climb on.

Because yes, you are showing signs of being a climber. We have an inflatable bathtub we almost never use that I had on your bedroom floor as I was packing and you were SO PROUD of yourself when you climbed on in all by yourself. So proud!

Until things went horribly wrong.

(For the record I did pull the tub off you, at which point you cried, pulled it back on top of you, then returned to happy babbling from under the tub. Well okay then.)

I do also have this picture that Mommy took, continuing the great parenting tradition of getting the camera first, then saving the baby second. (Oh, you'll do it to your kid(s) someday, too. Remind me to show you the picture of me as a baby with my head stuck under the bed. True story.)

You are getting REALLY good at feeding yourself. In fact, last week, one week shy of nine months, we officially stopped sending purees with you to school and just let you eat the lunch they provide. You've had chicken and black beans and pineapple and biscuits and all manner of other foods. In fact on biscuit day your sheet tells me that you ate FIVE servings. That's my boy!

Movement-wise you are picking up all kinds of steam. You pull to a stand, you cruise a few steps along furniture, you are starting to take real crawling "steps" on your knees - you are all about moving. And attempting to stand in the tub. Ahem.

So, the breakdown of milestones I wrote down for this month:

Got from stomach crawl to a sit March 24th (8 months, 5 days)

Pulled to a stand March 31st (8 months, 1.5 weeks)

Used laundry basket like a walker down the hall April 7th (8 months, 2.5 weeks)

04/02/2013

You'll be happy to know that I continue to be dumbfounded by the awesomeness that is being a mom. Every day you get a little bit cooler, a touch more fun, a smidgen cuter. Every day. How is that even possible? No idea.

A week or so after turning seven months old you mastered sitting up. You went from only allowing yourself to be propped up with your hands for 30-45 seconds at a time to sitting unaided, with a toy in your hands, for upwards of twenty minutes. Showoff. You do still fling yourself backwards to the floor with reckless abandon when you are done sitting, so if one of us isn't right by you we try to keep you on the foam tiles or with a pillow behind you. I know we have a lot of bumps and bruises in our future (you should have seen me as a child - I was one giant bruise), but I think we can keep you from getting your first concussion for a few more weeks anyway. I hope.

Closer to eight months you're leaning forward and sort of almost deliberately getting yourself from a sit onto your stomach for your army-crawl. Still no actual crawling yet, but you are using your feet and knees a little more every day in your army crawl, so I don't think it's too far in the future. You're almost there.

You are happiest when you are touching me in some way. Hilariously you have developed a love of very attack-like kisses. You attack, I cringe and fake protest, and you laugh and laugh and laugh. It is...mostly charming. Also moist.

This month you made a huge leap in learning to play in the bathtub. You discovered kicking and splashing a few months ago, but now you really go all out. After washing we take you out of your bath chair and let you flip and slip and slide around in the big bathtub in an inch or so of water and you LOVE it. You can spend a good 15 minutes after the washing part of your bath just rolling from front to back, back to front, front to back, and scooting from one end of the tub to the other, pausing to splash and splash and make sure whichever mom is bathing you is soaked to the skin. It is hilariously entertaining to watch.

You've also moved up a notch in the eating department. You're now willing and able to open your mouth for food instead of just wanting us to smear it on your face so you can lick it off your lips. Eating level up! Your favorites are green beans, prunes, bananas, and sweet potatoes. You've been pretty okay with any food we've given you so far. Pureed meats took a few tries, but you like them just fine if mixed with a veggie. One week before your eight month birthday we gave you some baby puffs to let you practice picking food up and putting it in your mouth yourself. It took a few days but you took to it really well. We also hand you hunks of whatever food we're eating when we can. You loved both my toast and my pizza crust the best so far. Carb lover? Yup, you're my kid.

Carrots are also good.

Lastly you've been upgraded in our Target trips from carset-in-the-cart to sitting up in the seat like a big boy. It comes with a price of me being able to decorate you with whatever is handy. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Ready for St. Patrick's Day.

Embarassing my baby even in his sleep since 2012!

It's been a good month, little man, baby bear, nugget, turdle baby. I love you to the moon and back, a million times over.

03/06/2013

You are now seven months old. Simon! Seven whole months! That is a lot of months. (Actually as I post this you are seven and a half months, but this post only details you through turning seven months. Work with me here.)

The day you turned six months old we betrayed your trust and did something terrible - we fed you pears.

Fortunately you warmed up to pears specifically and food in general over the month and mealtimes aren't quite that dramatic anymore. By the ripe old age of seven months you aren't quite yet ready to open your mouth for a spoon, but you do enthusiastically lick food off your lips or hands and then look at me expectently, waiting for me to smear more food on your face. There is an easier way, and I have faith you'll get there eventually.

Honestly most of the puree feeding we outsource to daycare. When you're with us we're more likely to just hand you a half eaten apple to suck on. To some people this is a trendy thing called "baby led weaning". To us it is just easier. Plus you really like sucking the juice out of an apple.

We did upgrade our setup at home (and at Grampa French Fry and Gramma Itzmee's house) to include a high chair, which you just love. You think you are SO GROWN UP sitting in your very own chair.

You are not, however, grown up enough to have any teeth yet. You've been teething on and off for months, gnawing on anything you can get near your mouth, but no dice yet. Maybe we'll invest in baby dentures. Or maybe we'll just sit here and quietly enjoy the "Marion cheekss" you make while teething for a while longer.

Marion was my Gramma, your Gramma Itzmee's Mom. When she would take her dentures out she would make this exact same face.

In other fun news you got to start swimming lessons this month! You started out a bit apprehensive, but you have gotten very good at splashing. We've already signed you up for the next session, and Mommy and I can't wait to take you in the pool some more.

Sadly the month wasn't all fun and games. You got your first really bad cold. You've had other colds and sniffles and coughs but this was the sadest I've seen you yet. You even lost your voice! It took you several days after getting your voice back before you re-learned all of your vocalizations, and man I missed them. Except for the terydactyl scream, I didn't miss that one. That one you can drop any time now.

We spent a good chunk of your seventh month up in Minnesota staying at Gramma Itzmee and Grampa French Fry's house when Gramma Itzmee got sick. You, my little monkey baby, were the greatest medicine ever, for all of us. You danced, you smiled, you laughed. Often all at the same time.

Books are your current favorite toy, which delights us to no end. You make the same excited gaspy noise when we place a book in your hands as you do when we sit down to nurse. I'm trying not to take it personally. Books are pretty rad, after all.

While you are still too small to drive it yourself we did break out the car Gramma Itzmee got you for Christmas this month and it was a hit! Maybe not as big of a hit as books, but a close second.

You have gotten so big in just a few short months, little dude. You laugh and smile and would spend all day standing if you could. Just before you turned seven months we finally got you to reliably sit up unassisted without propping you on your hands. The problem with learning to roll and gaining early mobility is that you had no interest in sitting. We all but have to karate-chop you at the waist to get you to practice your sitting. But finally you are getting the hang of that, too.

Standing again, of course.

I can't wait to see where the coming months bring you. Every day you make me smile, you just bring so much joy into the world. Seeing you learn and grow and discover new things is an amazing gift. Thank you for making me a Mom, little man. You're the greatest.

01/19/2013

The last time I wrote here you were a wee little four month old baby. Then the holidays hit and we got busier than usual and you got more and more interactive and that five month post just never got written. I know! But I did keep good notes, so I think we can cover months five and six in the same post. It'll be okay.

I will never stop missing this outfit.

Month five brought us a big increase in chatter. Hilariously you were always the most chatty when you had your fingers and/or a toy stuck in your mouth. Were you critiquing the object's taste? Who knows, but it was damn cute.

Nothing is better for teething than Mom's fingers.

Month five also brought on a major case of the wiggles for you - you are one busy and active baby. You are happiest when roughhousing. I see many bumps and bruises and breaks in your future, little crazy man.

I can fly!

Of course all that flying and wrestling and wiggling leaves you pretty snuggly by the end of the day.

My favorite.

But it doesn't take long for you to get back to being silly.

Our big milestone of month five is that you learned to roll over back to front! You accomplished that for the first time at four months and thirteen days old. You were under the Christmas tree looking at the lights, cooing (you did love those lights) and suddenly decided that you wanted to be on your stomach. Then thirty seconds later you had rotated 90 degrees, scooted, and reached right for the power cords. SO. It's going to be like that, huh?

Pretty lights!

The night after you learned to turn over was the worst night of sleep EVER. You kept turning over in your crib and getting stuck on your stomach and getting SO MAD. Now it seems funny, but that night it sucked.

Right before you turned five months old we also took you to see Santa. True to form you weren't bothered at all by the strangers or activity and put on your best smile for the camera, pleasing your Mommy immensly.

Happy baby!

And then you turned five months old! But we have another month to cover here. And it's an important one since it contains your first Christmas!

OMG

Being the first grandchild your first Christmas was predictably present-filled. But more importantly, it was also activity filled. First, you decided you liked nothing more than to stand all the live-long day. No you did not pull yourself up to a stand in this picture, Gramma Fisher put you there, but STILL. Yikes.

You learned that it was way more fun to sit at the table like a Big Boy than to hang out on the floor with your toys. Gramma Fisher learned to eat with one hand. So much learning!

You also got to see snow for the first time. We put you in a snowsuit that was MUCH to big (size 18 months!) and plunked you in a snowbank. It was hilarious.

Back home you began to notice the cats, much to their annoyance. Ricky remains close by most of the time, he lets you pet him maybe sometimes.

You love to play with all of your new toys in the foam-tiled portion of the livingroom we have come to call Simon Town.

You've also been spending a bit of time every week chatting with your grandparents over Skype. Kids these days! Video chatting with relatives hundreds of miles away!

You've also become semi-mobile, which is so awesome. You aren't crawling, but you are rolling to get places, pausing on your stomach to reorient yourself the direction you want to be. You can get yourself quite a distance in the time it takes for me to get myself more water.

You started waaaay back by those toys by the wall.

Delightfully you are still our silly boy, our goofy monkey, and you bring more joy into our world than we ever could have expected.

12/31/2012

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I am not a resolution kind of person.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Me! Also my good friend from college (who shares a birthday with me) had a baby boy almost two months after me. Several internet friends also had babies, which is good since this way I have people to talk to on Twitter when I'm up nursing at two in the morning.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit?

None! I rarely travel far, but this year I was more grounded than usual due to the pregnancy-childbirth-new baby cycle.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn't have in 2011?

I'm going with the same answer I had last year, the ability to sleep past 4am, oh my hell.

7. What dates from 2011 will be etched upon your memory, and why?

July 19th - Simon was born (duh), October 16th - Simon's first day at daycare (sadface)

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

Making it through pregnancy still exercising and eating well, surviving the first five and a half months of motherhood and sleep-deprivation without cracking (much). Successful breastfeeding.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I don't know that I have any. Going back to work has been a struggle, but I wouldn't call it a failure, just hard.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Does childbirth count as injury? Because OW. Other than that I've done quite well.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

The Snoogle. Stupid name, but it's the only reason I got any sleep in late pregnancy.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My super-genius child, of course. He rolls over! He "talks" at us! He squees and giggles and everything he does is just the best.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

87% of the people featured in stories on the news.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Baby gear, baby gear, and baby gear. Simon.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Telling everyone that I was pregnant and then giving birth to Simon. Coolest thing EVER.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Hmm. I'm not sure, I can't think of anything in particular. I haven't listened to much new music.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Happier, about the same, poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Snuggled Simon. I did a ton of sunggling, don't get me wrong, but I always wish for more.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

I wish I had enough money to work less, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

We drove up to Minnesota for a few days before Christmas, then to my aunt and uncle's farm in Wisconsin for Christmas Eve/Day, then back to Minnesota. It was so much fun to watch my parents and other family and friends interact with Simon. I so wish we were able to live closer.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?

With Simon, yes. Love at first sight.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

I watched nearly the entire run of Scrubs while on maternity leave. Also a lot of Ellen's talk show.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

I have too short of an attention span to sustain hate.

24. What was the best book you read?

My reading sort of screached to a halt after Simon was born, but I remember liking A Discovery of Witches, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, and What Alice Forgot.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Same as last year: I don't listen to a lot of music, I mostly leave musical discovery up to T.

26. What did you want and get?

A healthy, happy baby.

27. What did you want and not get?

A baby who sleeps.

28. What was your favorite film of 2011?

I...don't think I watched a single movie in 2011. Huh.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 32. T stayed home from work so I could take a Simon-free nap and we went out to lunch. Lovely!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More sleep.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2011?

Old Navy Maternity. Ha.

32. What kept you sane?

Same as 2011: The friends who live in my computer/email/on Twitter. What did people do before the internet?

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Same as 2011: Not sure. I can't think of any TV-loves-of-my-life this year.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The news is depressing and scary, more so since Simon was born. I try to ignore politics when possible.

35. Who did you miss?

My parents (who live 400 miles away). Having a baby makes me want them around even more than before, and I missed them a ton before, too.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Simon!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Simon has so far mostly taught me to slow down, and to chill out on the multitasking. It'll get done eventually. Stop and smell the roses, etc.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Who needs sleep? You're never gonna get it. Who needs sleep? Tell me what's that for? Who needs sleep? Be happy with what you're getting, there's a guy been awake since the second World War.